The central body of the NEPS network is the "Annual Meeting of the National Educational Panel", which meets once a year. The deliberations of the Annual Meeting focus on fundamental questions of medium- and long-term planning of the NEPS research and service programme.

Voting members of the annual meeting are:

1. the NEPS Management, the Extended NEPS Management and all NEPS Network Partners who have signed the Network Charter. Together, the three groups form the NEPS Steering Committee.
2. as well as the staff representation elected in the NEPS Employee General Meeting.

Chairmanship of the annual meeting

At the 11th Annual Meeting on 19 February 2024, the following appointments were made:

• Chair: Prof. Dr Nele McElvany, Institute for School Development Research (IFS), Dortmund
• Deputy Chair: To be determined

The Chair is responsible for presiding over the Annual Meeting, issuing invitations, and organising the event. In addition, the Chair serves as an ex officio member of the Network Committee.

The Network Committee advises on current and medium-term questions of NEPS research and service work. It also deals with controversial aspects of the implementation of NEPS research and service planning, reports to the annual meeting and prepares the content of its meeting.

The Network Committee comprises:

1. the NEPS Management and members of the NEPS Extended Management,
2. the elected chair of the NEPS Annual Meeting and its deputy,
3. the elected members of the Network Committee, and
4. the elected representation of NEPS staff.

The following persons were appointed as members of the NEPS Network Committee: 

• Prof. Dr. Martin Ehlert, WZB Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Frank Goldhammer, DIPF Frankfurt
• Prof. Dr. Guido Heineck, University of Bamberg
• Prof. Dr. Cornelia Kristen, University of Bamberg
• Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller, IPN Kiel
• Prof. Dr. Astrid Schütz, University of Bamberg

Voting members of the employee general meeting of the NEPS network are all LIfBi-external and LIfBi-internal employees who are actively involved in the NEPS. The employees' general meeting elects three employee representatives for a period of three years, who are members of the annual meeting and the NEPS network committee:

1. Two representatives (and two deputies) from among the actively involved NEPS staff at LIfBi, with one of the two taking the chair by mutual agreement.
2. One representative (and one deputy) from among the actively involved NEPS staff at the NEPS consortium partners

The following persons were elected as NEPS staff representatives in summer 2022:

NEPS Staff Representation LIfBi

• Representation: Anika Bela & Diana Steger
• Substitutes: Manja Attig & Sebastian Lang

NEPS Staff Representation Consortium Partners

• Representation: Lara Petersen, IPN
• Substitute: Katharina Molitor, TU Dortmund